I am trying to export my iTunes playlists for use in other programs but discovered after exporting them that they do not actually refer to my music directly, but instead refer back to the iTunes library. That makes them completely useless (except perhaps as backups). This applies both to m3u and xml exports. Am I overlooking something?
iTunes 12.6.1.25
File > Library > Export playlist
iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)
See Make a split library portable. I suspect you've used a link to fool iTunes into seeing the media on the NAS, but the library clearly expects to find the tracks on your main system drive in your user folder. Locate that track in your library and use CMD+I to Get Info. What shows on the File tab for the location? iTunes and NAS don't always play nicely, and iTunes has been known to delete links when updating the library.
tt2
In what sense do they "not actually refer to your music directly"? Your iTunes library is a collection of references to the files stored on your computer. A playlist is an ordered list of those references. For a third party program to make use of such a list, fully independently of iTunes, the files must be at the indicated locations. If you want to make a copy of the media files to use elsewhere drag these to a folder. If the order matters too then export the m3u or m3u8 file, then edit it to convert the absolute file paths into relative references.
tt2
Thanks Richard, but approaching it from the other direction does not work in this case. It works fine for our Sonos equipment which can read the iTune Library.xml file, but it does not work for JRiver Media Center which can only import traditional m3u playlists.
Richard & tt2: What is the point of iTunes letting you generate m3u playlists if they are no use to anyone? My problem with the m3u files iTunes generates now is that they contain file references NOT to the actual music in its proper location, but to iTunes itself. Here is an example of such a m3u:
#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:78,Introduction - Dave Brubeck
/Users/XXXXXXX/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Jazz/Dave Brubeck/1967 Bravo! Brubeck!/01 Dave Brubeck - Introduction.m4a
#EXTINF:300,Cielito Lindo - Dave Brubeck
/Users/XXXXXXX/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Jazz/Dave Brubeck/1967 Bravo! Brubeck!/02 Dave Brubeck - Cielito Lindo.m4a
#EXTINF:375,La Paloma Azul (The Blue Dove) - Dave Brubeck
/Users/XXXXXXX/Music/iTunes/iTunes Media/Jazz/Dave Brubeck/1967 Bravo! Brubeck!/03 Dave Brubeck - La Paloma Azul (The Blue Dove).m4a
The XML playlist is no different:
<key>56464</key>
<dict>
<key>Album</key>
<string>Bravo! Brubeck!</string>
<key>Album Artist</key>
<string>Dave Brubeck</string>
<key>Artist</key>
<string>Dave Brubeck</string>
<key>Artwork Count</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>Bit Rate</key>
<integer>662</integer>
<key>Comments</key>
<string>Recorded live in Mexico, May 12-14 1967</string>
<key>Date Added</key>
<date>2017-06-12T14:01:16Z</date>
<key>Date Modified</key>
<date>2017-03-29T13:16:04Z</date>
<key>File Folder Count</key>
<integer>-1</integer>
<key>Genre</key>
<string>Jazz - Cool</string>
<key>Grouping</key>
<string>Cool/West Coast Jazz/Jazz Instrument/Piano Jazz</string>
<key>Kind</key>
<string>Apple Lossless audio file</string>
<key>Library Folder Count</key>
<integer>-1</integer>
<key>Location</key>
<string>file:///Users/XXXXXXXX/Music/iTunes/iTunes%20Media/Jazz/Dave%20Brubeck/ 1967%20Bravo!%20Brubeck!/01%20Dave%20Brubeck%20-%20Introduction.m4a</string>
<key>Name</key>
<string>Introduction</string>
<key>Persistent ID</key>
The problem is that there is no such music in "iTunes Media". All my music resides on a NAS and iTunes has no problem playing this music. The real path to my music is (in OSX):
/volume1/music/Jazz/Dave Brubeck/1967 Bravo! Brubeck!/03 Dave Brubeck - La Paloma Azul (The Blue Dove).m4a
Maybe you need to approach this from the other direction. Does the other software come with instructions for importing or working with iTunes playlists? Or can you build new playlists over there?
You may well be right about this. I will check it out and get back to you. Thanks.
Export iTunes playlists with paths to music not to iTunes itself
